Interesting world. I quite enjoyed discovering step by step how it works and how exactly each aspect would fit into the story as a whole. I think, much of the enjoyment came from the different groups of people and some suspicious behaving individuals.
There are Fire Dancers, some sort of gladiators, who are fighting dragons in an arena. It becomes clear very quickly though that there is going on some pretty shady stuff there. I'm curious how the strange goings-on at this place are going to develop in the next installment of the series. Little Kay's special talents feel very promising, I think there is something big awaiting us there.
The Shadow Dancers, well, the name says it all, they are spies with a very enigmatic leader, the Shadow Prince. It's a pit that he barely appears, because he's quite a fascinating character, whose motives are still as shadowy as his title suggests.
And then there is the entire hierarchical system, the way the land is governed, the 13 ranks. The power plays, the intrigues, all these things to ensure oneself a higher rank and therefore greater power and priviliges. It's nothing new, of course, but it's written in a way that keeps you reading on, that makes you want to find out who is going to win, who is going to lose, and if there might not even be more to it than first meets the eye.
So, as the reader you can sympathize with Jura a lot because she is thrown right into this dangerous mine field. After she's found her father, the first in rank, with a blood chain, a device which enslaves its wearer to the person who put the thing on them in the first place, she has to take over his position. Trying to hide her father's condition + lacking experience in politics, well, not the best starting point, but all the more exciting. Only her naivety was very frustrating to watch. There've been many occasions I just wanted to shake her and make her see how obviously her trust is misplaced. But nobody is perfect and that's good because there is room left to learn and improve which she does, revealing some very interesting sides.
Tilaq has been a favourite of mine. He's got a bit of a rough start with Jura, because she sentences him to death for supposedly stealing the ominous Everflame the first time they meet. They come to a mutual agreement though and more or less slowly turn from grudging allies to sort-of friends plus something more. I don't know, they don't really see each other that often, so, to me, that development still felt a bit rushed. Still, I liked the innocence between them.
And right when I thought I had it all figured out, the culprit so obvious to me, the whole thing's been turned around with new options arising.
So, this book has been full of surprises and details and captivating characters, I'm very curious what's more to come. Definite recommendation here!
